


an ascension

by gryffiths



Series: beneath the zenith of the sun [1]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Metaphors, POV Third Person Limited, Pre-Canon, an attempt: take two, or something, sibling feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-07-27 19:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20051689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gryffiths/pseuds/gryffiths
Summary: before the jackal, there was a man. and his brother who took them both to the sun.(or, the ascension of nasus & renekton.)





	an ascension

**Author's Note:**

> started this back in june (11th) during classes (i remembered scribbling the first parts of this fic and trying to hide it from a friend), but never really finished.
> 
> but! after reading [shxme's](https://archiveofourown.com/users/shxme) beautiful [shenzed fic](https://archiveofourown.com/works/20019739), and mystery novels (agatha christie's _the big four_ was more...dull than i thought it would be, which was a disappointment :/) i pulled myself together to gather the willpower to write this.
> 
> then i finally finished this yesterday 'cause i really wanted to post it today. then [Boo](https://archiveofourown.com/users/BootacularCrimson%20rel=) beta'd today and here it is!
> 
> hope you enjoy :)

his eyes are brown.

it is not that nasus has not noticed before — how could he not, his brother's light shone through them like the sun that the empire worships, and with the fury of a legion of stars — but this small detail seems so much more important now that he knows that these are Renekton's last moments of life, of breath and movement. 

nasus’ body sways with every step that Renekton takes, and he feels useless and like a child with the grip that Renekton has on him, but knows he would not have made it up the final steps to the dais if it were not for his younger brother catching him at the base of the final flight of stairs.

his hoarse protests had been ignored, he would have accepted Death if it were not for the stiffness of Renekton’s jaw, the crease of his eyebrows and the stubborn light in his eyes. this is Renekton with his mind made up and the familiarity of his expression would have been endearing if the cause of it was not so worrying. 

it is a look he has seen many times over, from refusal to stand down from a fight to arguments over policies and strategies and different ideas. it reminds him of the shadows of polished armour — reflecting the sharpness of the spears that surround them and every time he sees it, it is another reminder that at his core, Renekton has not changed, still that same baby nasus distantly remembers hearing those obstinate cries of life from.

he remembers how much he hates and loves that quality in him, that unwillingness to back down that has caused so much trouble yet has saved so many lives of people because of it. it is both a blessing and a curse, something for Renekton to balance in his everyday life, something that nasus is honoured to see.

he feels that familiar pride, at how his younger brother has remade himself from the violent, ratty street boy to the well-respected captain he is now. a talented warrior, dedicated to Shurima and her people, ever so fierce and protective, and of his family, even more so, if this last action is anything to stand by.

with the bright piercing light glaring at them, nasus tries to make another plea, silenced by a glance from Renekton as coughs wrack his body. there is an amused smile as Renekton steps ever closer to the light, "let me hold you most important for once, brother. like you had done for me all those years ago."

and nasus can not think of anything else but, "i have failed you then," a cough, "for what older brother lets his younger sibling die first?" it is a shameful feeling that nasus has not done enough for him, as Renekton is to end up being ripped apart by flickering sun-flames for a mistake that nasus had made.

the knowledge that Renekton is doing this willingly feels worse, as nasus takes in focused eyes and straight posture, muscles tense with the weight of nasus (which he knows is not much, so he thinks the stiffness is from something else, an instinctual defence when the mind thought itself infallible). 

that same expression is still there, but with a shock to his brother's features, before it settles into a cool mask. "you have never failed me, nasus. i had just been too stubborn to listen, then."

"and now?" nasus could not help it, a desperate attempt to get Renekton to stop, one last time. hoping against hope that Renekton would not take it as a challenge, a quarry to overcome.

he could feel the rays on his face, his body. the scorching heat like nothing he had experienced despite living all his life beneath the brightest star in the empire of the sun. 

Renekton remains unaffected, the arid surroundings doing nothing to falter his resolve. there is a gleam to his eyes, brown reflecting off the disc’s flames and mimicking the warmth that laid within. 

there is an upward tilt of his mouth, small, yet impish with the reflecting affection and nasus thinks that this could not be a better smile for it to be his last human memory.

"i do not listen because of my love for you," and the final step is taken.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading and have a good one. peace.


End file.
